Ringfort (Rath), Glebe, Co. Kerry

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Ringforts

Ringfort (Rath), Glebe, Co. Kerry

On a west-facing slope in the Kerry townland of Glebe, a roughly circular earthwork sits in pasture, quietly persisting in a landscape that has long since moved on around it.

What makes it worth pausing over is its double-bank construction: two concentric earthen ramparts separated by a fosse, the ditch between them, together spanning a diameter of around 30 metres north to south. Ringforts of this kind, known in Irish as raths, were the standard enclosed farmsteads of early medieval Ireland, typically dating from roughly the fifth to the twelfth centuries. A univallate example, with a single bank, was the norm; a double or triple enclosure like this one suggests a settlement of some standing, whether in terms of wealth, social rank, or simply the need for additional security.

The structure itself is worn but legible. The inner bank, earthen with some stone visible, still stands to an internal height of around 1.25 metres. The outer bank is slightly better preserved on the exterior, reaching 1.4 metres, and shows traces of stone-facing along its northern side. Between them, the fosse is partly obscured by overgrowth. A possible entrance survives at the northeast, narrow through both banks, and there is a rectangular depression measuring roughly 2 metres by 1 metre in the northwest quadrant of the interior, which may represent the remains of a structure. Numerous gaps break both banks. The Ordnance Survey Name Books for Kilcummin, compiled in the 1840s, recorded two raths in the northern part of this townland, and this is considered one of that pair, placing it in the documentary record well before any formal archaeological survey.

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